lecture 3 history of taxonomy
TRANSCRIPT
Pre-Linnaean Taxonomy- Earliest Taxonomy- the Greeks and Romans- the Herbalists- Early Taxonomists
• Linnaean Era- starting point of modern Taxonomy- transforming Botany & Zoology into a Science
Post-Linnaean Taxonomy- natural system emerging in France- Rules for Nomenclature- from Phenetics to Phylogenies- the Phylocode
Folk Taxonomy
Earliest traces of taxonomy were Eastern- known to the Western world only
during the Middle Ages
- earliest pharmacopoeias was written by Shen Nung, Emperor of China around 3,000 BC
Known as the Father of Chinese medicine
Believed to have introduced acupuncture
Wants to educate his people in agriculture & medicine
- have test many herbs for medicinal value
The pharmacopoeia of Nung “Divine Husbandman’s Materia Medica” included 365 medicines derived from minerals, plants, & animals
1500 BC , medicinal plants were illustrated on wall paintings in Egypt
—gives us knowledge about medicinal plants in old Egypt & their names
The first to classify all living things, specifically on animals (like the vertebrates & invertebrates)
A student of Aristotle & Plato
Wrote a classification of all known plants, De Historia Plantarum, 480 species
- based on growth form
He wrote De Materia Medica
- 600 species; was used in medicine until 16th century
his classifications was based on the medicinal properties of the species
His book Naturalis Historia
- described plants & gave them Latin names
The Father of Botanical Latin
called “the first Taxonomist”
- he wrote De Plantis in 1583, 1500 species
- his classifications was based on growth habit together with fruit & seed form
- wrote Pinax Theatri Botanici in 1623, 6000 species- they included synonymes- recognized genera & species as major taxonomic levels
Established species as the ultimate unit of taxonomy
He published Methodus Plantarum Nova in 1682, 18000 plant species
His classifications was based on many combined characters
Constructed a botanical classification w/c became a rule in his time
Published Institutiones Rel Herbariae, 9000 species
Put emphasis on the classification of genera
His classification was based on floral characters
His 2 important works:- global flora Species
Plantarum, 1753- 10th ed. of Systema
Naturae, 1758 w/c includes global fauna
•Counted 8530 species of flowering plants in 1753
Carolus Linnaeus
Stated his career in 1735 by publishing a system of all living things & minerals called Systema Naturae
- introduced sexual system of plants, an artificial classification based on the sexual parts of the flower, stamens & pistils
• Published several books that would transform botany & zoology into a science
Published Critica botanica in 1735 with rules for the formulation of generic names
In the same year, published Genera Plantarum with the list of all known genera
Fundamenta botanica in 1736 & Philosophia botanica in 1751 he created rules for species descriptions, terminology, & even instructions on how to build a proper herbarium
corolla, stamen, filament & anther, Mammalia
His approach was to describe the world rather than to classify it
His theories touched upon development of species, infraspecific variety, & acquired inherited characters in species
(Four French Scientists)
wrote Familles des Plantes in 1763
Gave the idea that in classification one should not put greater emphasis on some characters than on others, but use a great range of characters
Changed the system of plants w/ his Genera Plantarum in 1789- a natural system based on many characters; became the foundation of modern classification
• divided plants into acotyledons, monocotyledons, & dicotyledons
Launched an evolutionary theory including inheritance of acquired characters, named the “Lamarckism”
French scientific works, the development of anatomy & physiology, and improved optical instruments made way for the new era of Taxonomy
- trying to cope with an increasing number of species in a rapidly expanding flora & fauna of the world
From the lectures of Mariette Manktelow, Dept of Systematic Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University